Skip to main content

Hakodate Half Celebrates 25 Years With Wins From Gizae and Kato

http://www3.nhk.or.jp/sapporo-news/20150628/5792931.html

translated by Brett Larner

Now in its 25th year, 4500 runners from across the country ran Hokkaido's Hakodate Half Marathon on June 28, coming for the seaside course and staying for the legendary hot spring resorts.  A fall race up to now, this year the Hakodate Half saw its entry numbers swell by 1000 this year with a move to a June race date. 

The race began at 8:00 sharp with the firing of a gun at Chiyogadai Field in Hakodate.  A light rain left runners shivering before the start, but things warmed up over the 21 km seaside course with enthusiastic cheering from roadside spectators.  One participant, a firefighter from Tokyo, commented, "This was both a race for me and a vacation for my family.  I really enjoyed the scenery along the course while I ran."

Kenyan Mitchell Gizae (Suzuki Hamamatsu AC) won the men's race in 1:02:29, while Asami Kato (Team Panasonic) was the women's winner in 1:12:21.

25th Hakodate Half Marathon
Hakodate, Hokkaido, 6/28/15
click here for complete results

Men's Half Marathon
1. Mitchell Gizae (Suzuki Hamamatsu AC) - 1:02:29
2. Kazuki Tomaru (Team Toyota) - 1:03:01
3. Yoshihiro Yamamoto (Team NTN) - 1:03:02
4. Takuya Noguchi (Team Konica Minolta) - 1:03:02
5. Yuya Ito (Team Toyota) - 1:03:22

Women's Half Marathon
1. Asami Kato (Team Panasonic) - 1:12:21
2. Yukiko Okuno (Team Shiseido) - 1:12:42
3. Yuko Mizuguchi (Team Denso) - 1:13:19
4. Miya Nishio (Team Hokuren) - 1:14:10
5. Yukie Nagata (Rafine) - 1:18:22

Comments

Most-Read This Week

Everything You Need to Know About the 2026 Hakone Ekiden

The Hakone Ekiden is the world's biggest road race, 2 days of road relay action with Japan's 20 best university teams racing 10 half marathon-scale legs from central Tokyo to the mountains east of Mount Fuji and back. The level just keeps going higher and higher , hitting the point this year where there are teams with 10-runner averages of 13:33.10 for 5000 m, 27:55.98 for 10000 m, and 1:01:20 for the half marathon. It's never been better, and with great weather in the forecast it's safe to say this could be one of the best races in Hakone's 102-year history, especially on Day One. If you've seen it then you know NTV's live broadcast is the best sports broadcast in the world, with the pre-race show kicking off at 7:00 a.m. Japan time on the 2nd and 3rd and the race starting at 8:00 a.m. sharp. If you've got a VPN you should be able to watch it on TVer starting at 7:50 a.m. on the 2nd , and again at 7:50 a.m. on the 3rd . There's even a 2-hour high...

Mashiko Breaks U20 5000 m NR - Weekend Track Roundup

Saturday's Kanakuri Memorial Meet in Kumamoto was the weekend's main event in Japanese track, but there were good results at the Nittai University Time Trials meet in Yokohama too. Emmanuel Maru (Toyota Boshoku) led the men's 5000 m A-heat at Kanakuri in 13:14.06, with Tomonori Yamaguchi (SGH) clocking the fastest Japanese time in 13:16.38 in his first race as a corporate leaguer. Waseda University duo Rui Suzuki and Yota Mashiko went 6-7 in 13:20.64 and 13:22.87, the 18-year-old Mashiko shaving 0.04 off the U20 NR. In 8th, Yamato Yoshii (Toyota) ran a PB of 13:23.92. 3000 mSC NR holder Ryuji Miura (Subaru) continued to struggle after a weak indoor season, finishing 18th of 20 finishers in 13:45.10. 19-year-old Festus Kimorwo (Kurosaki Harima) was under 13:20 in the B-heat too, winning in a 13:19.59 PB. 2 more collegiate men broke 13:30, Daichi Fujita (Chuo Univ.) 8th in 13:28.93 and Riki Koike (Soka Univ.) 9th in 13:29.09. The top 6 in the men's 800 m A-hea...